"But conscious that a mind by virtue steel'd, / To no impression of distress will yield."
— Wilkie, William (1721-1772)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for A. Millar
Date
1769
Metaphor
"But conscious that a mind by virtue steel'd, / To no impression of distress will yield."
Metaphor in Context
Next Arcas, Cleon, valiant Chromius, dy'd;
With Dares, to the Spartan chiefs ally'd.
And Phoemius, whom the Gods in early youth
Had form'd for virtue and the love of truth;
His gen'rous soul to noble deeds they turn'd,
And love to mankind in his bosom burn'd:
Cold thro' his throat the hissing weapon glides,
And on his neck the waving locks divides.
His fate the Graces mourn'd. The Gods above,
Who sit around the starry throne of Jove,
On high Olympus bending from the skies,
His fate beheld with sorrow-streaming eyes.
Pallas alone, unalter'd and serene,
With secret triumph saw the mournful scene:
Not hard of heart; for none of all the pow'rs,
In earth or ocean, or th' Olympian tow'rs,
Holds equal sympathy with human grief,
Or with a freer hand bestows relief;
But conscious that a mind by virtue steel'd,
To no impression of distress will yield;
That, still unconquer'd, in its awful hour
O'er death it triumphs with immortal pow'r.
With Dares, to the Spartan chiefs ally'd.
And Phoemius, whom the Gods in early youth
Had form'd for virtue and the love of truth;
His gen'rous soul to noble deeds they turn'd,
And love to mankind in his bosom burn'd:
Cold thro' his throat the hissing weapon glides,
And on his neck the waving locks divides.
His fate the Graces mourn'd. The Gods above,
Who sit around the starry throne of Jove,
On high Olympus bending from the skies,
His fate beheld with sorrow-streaming eyes.
Pallas alone, unalter'd and serene,
With secret triumph saw the mournful scene:
Not hard of heart; for none of all the pow'rs,
In earth or ocean, or th' Olympian tow'rs,
Holds equal sympathy with human grief,
Or with a freer hand bestows relief;
But conscious that a mind by virtue steel'd,
To no impression of distress will yield;
That, still unconquer'd, in its awful hour
O'er death it triumphs with immortal pow'r.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" and "impression" in HDIS (Poetry); I find variant lines in 1757 edition
Citation
Text from 2nd edition: The Epigoniad. A Poem. In Nine Books. By William Wilkie, The Second Edition, Carefully Corrected and Improved. To which is Added, A Dream. In the Manner of Spenser. (London: Printed for A. Millar, in the Strand; and A. Kincaid and J. Bell, in Edinburgh, 1769). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
02/23/2014
